Hero Honda Motors Ltd. (HHML) on Wednesday rolled out its fourth offering in the 150 cc motorcycle segment — Hunk — with a starting price of Rs. 55,000 (ex-showroom Delhi).

The earlier offerings in the premium segment are: 156 cc CBZ Xtreme, 150 cc Achiever and 225 cc Karizma. At present, the company has a 15-20 per cent share in the premium bike segment.

Two versions of Hunk, kick-start and self-start, are being offered. While the former carries a price tag of Rs. 55,000, the later will be available for Rs. 57,000.

Already talks about it and specially its name, Hero Honda could have used some better name. Well, Hunk is still, if you look into dictionary then it is a very manly word.

This machine has almost similar power and torque to CBZ xtreme, ie. 14.2bhp at 8500 rpm and 12.8 nm at 6500 rpm. Then engine displacement is 149.2 cc . And the engine is set to have tumble flow.(like swirl, but vertical). If I understand correctly, that should have boosted torque. Maybe the torque curve sits higher everywhere, but has the same peak.

Lets talk about other things of the HUNK, ie. its look and fairing and its styling.

First thing you will note that it has gas charged, adjustable rear shok absorber, it is I think first in Hero Honda Bike. One thing I loved about CBZ from beginning was its saddle position, it just made you sit so sporty that you feel like GOD on road. .. here in Hero Honda Hunk, saddle position is nice so it feels so sporty while sitting on Bike.

Front Disc brake is fine, I wished if they could have increased its size as TVS did in Apache RTR 160, it looks so nice and somohow makes feel bike more powerful (physcologically).

Looking over design, the bike has over all a big look as we had with CBZ xtreme. This time grab rail is single piece ie not like CBZ xtreme which as splitted one looked really cool. One thing I noticed here that they wanted to bike to look shorter and sporty and hence you can see on back that they have kept seat little shorter though ideally should stretch a bit more, anyhow it is looking unique.

What I think that there was something missing in CBZ xtreme and Hero Honda thinks that to compete with Apache RTR and new pulsar, they should work around and hence we have “Hunk”.

It has body coloured leg gaurd, I have seen first in Hero Honda bikes and rather in any bike yet. another nice thing about design is its fairing covering the tank, it really makes it feel big, sit over and it is really big. Headlamp is good but again could have better in design. I don’t know why Hero Honda people can’t create a appealing front look but its satisfactory this time.

As most part of bike is gray so other color create different look than whole gray bike. As you look in above pic, the bike is in red colour but touch of Gray , black makes it appealing.

Looking at the meter console, we have no digital instruments there, looks like Hero Honda wants to make it traditional style manly stuff, only raw power. After all, you can’t feel the adrenaline in those digital meter as you feel when the niddle spindle over the meter .. wraoommmm…

Image Courtesy – rearset.blogspot.com

Fuel consumption is said to same as CBZ but with little improvement.But the thing is , if some one asks you whats your ride, you may have to answer as – “I ride Hunk !”

Is’nt that wierd? Unless you are a gay? Hero Honda guys should have worked much more on naming a bike!

Note : All pics here are taken from hero honda site . Except one which i took from rearset.blogspot.com > please pay a visit to his superb motorcycling blog

Bajaj doesnt want to break 200′s market by releasing Pulsar 220 nation wide , and they are releasing 220 in limted numbers to keep people waiting for it and not go to HH showroom for ZMA. This kind of strategy took them way long since they launched calliber(1999) . Visually the only difference i can make out is that the saree gaurd is black compared to white ones in the first batch. But personally i think that they ‘may’ have changed something technically inside the engine/gear/console/electricals/Fi system from the feed back they got from the first lot bikes. Lets wait for another first hand review !

P ics :

Further, the year 2007-08 will be an year of new launches and new initiatives for the company. Besides a slew of new launches, TVS-M’s two new plants at Himachal Pradesh and Indonesia are also set to go on stream next fiscal.

“We have come out with ‘Star Sport’ to cater to that segment of customers, who were looking for more style in Star. While the Star variants at present have a market share of 10%, among all categories put together, we expect this to increase to 13%, with the launch of ‘Star Sport,” Mr K N Radhakrishnan, president, TVS-M told a press conference here on Monday.

Within the ‘entry-level’ segment, the Star variants command a 26% market share. “We hope to get market leadership in the entry level segment, with the launch of ‘Star Sport’ and we expect the market share to increase to 35%, from the present 26%,” Mr Radhakrishnan said.

He agreed that the launch of yet another variant of Star, may result in eating into the sales of some of the other models from the company. “There could be cannibalisation to the tune of around 10%. But, then the move launch a more stylish Star is for a set of customers, who were keen to buy a Star if it offered more style, alongwith its existing qualities,” he said.

While the basic variant of ‘Star Sport’ has been priced at Rs 33,990 (ex-showroom Chennai), the premium variant of the new model will carry a price tag of Rs 35,490 (ex-showroom Chennai). Nearly 75% of TVS-M’s motorcycle sales comes from the Star variants, with another 15% – 20% coming from Apache and the Victor series contributing the rest.

According to him, the financial year 2007-08 will be an year for new launches and new initiatives. “Our plant in Himachal Pradesh will go operational in April this year, even while the company’s first overseas plant in Indonesia, is expected to do the same in May. We will also be launching a new Apache, a three-wheeler in August, and a new Victor during 2007-08,” Mr Radhakrishnan said.

The move to launch a new Victor, re-inforces the fact that the company needs an aggressive model in the segment to influence market share. “Nearly 50% of all the two-wheelers sold are from the executive segment, where we have just about 5%-7% share. The new product will help us increase our numbers significantly in this segment,” he said.

The Bike looks good & it’s stunning. It feels big when you sit on it, infact it gives you a big Bike ka feel the moment you sit on it, mainly due to the clip-ons & slightly backwards footrests. BAL as again has got a winner here, the fit & finish levels are very good infact much better than HH or for that matter ZMA. The digi Speedo console looks great & the self test looks charming The first things that you notice are missing choke lever, fuel knob & a new pass beam switch along with the backlit switch panel & of course the LCD Digi console.

The Riding experience

My biggest worry was since this Bike doesn’t have kick starter how good would the self be & am glad to say that the self lived up to its expectation. The Bike starts very smoothly & almost effortlessly.
The gear shift is smooth & precise but still doesn’t not slot like CBZ\ZMA, some like it some don’t. I was fine with it as I had used this type of shift on my pulsar 180 but yes this one was better than the one on mine. Not a leap of change in the gear shift but nevertheless a good one. Those who like slotting gears may still crib but I was happy with it as I had no false neutrals & no wrong gears.
The engine is smooth really smooth & the Bike picks up really sweetly, the exhaust note is nice but whether one likes it or not may differ from person to person. Once revved up the Bike gets the typical pulsar vibes near tank & fairing though they are minimal but can still be felt on the knee touching the fairing near tank. These vibrations come around 70kph & above.
Just like its smaller siblings the RVMs on P220 become useless at these speeds as they vibrate so much that you cant make out what you see in the mirrors but since you cant see much anyways its not much of a problem. Oh that reminds me did I tell you guys that the RVMs are absolutely useless especially if you are wearing a minimalist riding gear, reminds me of classic Pulsars which had stylish mirrors but very poor visibility wrt the ones sported by DTSI versions, Yeah BAL did it again

The Bike picks up really well on roll-ons, the most amazing thing was that even at 5th gear the Bike picked up at 25kph, though it pinked a bit but still picked up without any jerks

Riding Comfort

I found the suspension to be a little stiffer than the ZMAÂ while Pawan felt otherwise. The roads had no bad patches so cant say about how they would feel under bad road conditions.

The Bike has very sporty feel to it. The seats have good support & it holds you well. The Bike is really good if you want to ride it fast (which of course you would ). I rode the P220 for around 10-15 kms & my right shoulder started to pain, does it make it really bad for long riding ?? To answer this, it reminds of the first two days when I had bought my 180 DTSi (which was my first Bike ever) & when my arms pained like hell for two complete days  so it’s just a matter of getting used to. So does this make the P220 a good tourer ?? Or to say will it be more comfy than a ZMA for long rides ?? In my humble opinion with a guy of my height (am 5’10”)NO. Although the engine is really refined with enough power to take long stretches effortlessly the riding posture is not what you would want for such long rides. Having said that it’s still a matter of personal choice, I mean Sunny & Ken keep doing long rides on SBKs which in common perception are not good for long rides.
Disclaimer: I am not comparing it to the SBKs just the riding posture

All those who got disappointed here’s another way to look at it. Those who are shorter in height may find the Bike to be better than the ZMA for riding comfort since they wont face the issue which taller guys like me faced i.e. crouched position & knees touching the fairing. So I think it can be safely put that it would be more comfy for shorter people that taller people for long rides

Handling

I took the P220 on ghats & on straights; the Bike has really good handling when compared to the smaller pulsars especially because of the better swing arm & the riding posture & not to forget wider tubeless tires. The Bike is very eager to lean when compared to previous Pulsars. So is this the new Handling champion ?? Sadly No here where I hated BAL the most, they have actually ruined a great handling Bike into a non handling one, the reason ?? The stupid main stand aargh the mains stand scrapes at slightest of the lean  I am very sure infact confidant that if the main stand is removed the Bike will be an awesome handler

Ok just before some shouts that he has taken curves without scraping the stand, I will like to make it clear that the stand scraping happens when you are taking tight twisties uphill or downhill i.e. it won’t affect much on straights but then you only need the leaning aspect on such twisties.

Braking

Full marks here no comments it simply rules here Excellent breaking supported by a wide profile rear as well as front tire(Yes the front tire is broader too )

Headlights

10 out of 10 or may be 11 out of 10. The lights everywhere including the headlights are superb. Let it be tail lamps or the LCD or the backlit switches

Drag Results

Frankly speaking the drags which we had were very amateurish & should be taken only as indicative & not as a proof because:

- The bikes had diff mileage on odo
- The drag was done on a strip which was barely 100-200 mtrs
- We had no timing device. And a few launches were not synchronized properly
- My ZMAÂ is stock but has heavier & broader rear tire.

Result 1: P220 VS My ZMA

P220 won on 2 runs

Result 2: P220 vs. Modded ZMA (Vivek’s)

ZMAÂ won 3 times
P220 won once when Vivek rode the P220 & Pawan rode the ZMA

Conclusion

Well am no journalist & this isn’t any magazine so I am really not sure what to post as a conclusion or verdict, rather I would put it as answers to commonly asked Qs

Q1: Is the P220 worth buying its price?
A1: Yes the P220 is a very good piece of machinery.

Q2: Is it better than ZMA?
A2: This is still debatable, while the engine is more powerful & has more torque than the ZMA, it still has niggling issues like poor RVMs & vibrations at higher revs which the ZMAÂ lacks, Also the handling though very good is marred by the stupid stand which I believe can be fixed.
At the end one has to decide his priorities & go for it

Q3: Should I trade my ZMAÂ for the P220
A3: Unless you want to go for all the gadgetry & that extra power NO. Remember the slightly mudded zap beat it in the unofficial drag

Taken from xBhp.com